Dietela: Agile Team Dynamics
How we incorporate the word “agile” in our team dynamics.
This article is written as an individual review assignment for PPL CS UI 2021.
The Essence
What is Team Dynamics?
In a nutshell, team dynamics represent (1) the behavioral relationships among team members and (2) the psychological factors that influence them.
In my opinion, team dynamics is composed of many things, including:
- the perspective on what constitutes a team,
- the viewpoint on how the team runs, and
- the cooperation to achieve a shared vision.
The Difference
Conventional vs Agile Team Dynamics
Although team dynamics vary from team to team, I can categorize the team dynamics in the software development process into three (3) types. The classification is according to similar views on the 3 things mentioned above. They are:
- Conventional
- Agile
- Hybrid (combination of both)
As for our Dietela team, we are more inclined towards having agile team dynamics as we implement agile development (you can read more on it here). However, it does not necessarily mean agile development is equal to agile team dynamics.
Here are the differences between conventional and agile team dynamics when compared based on the things mentioned earlier:
The perspective on what constitutes a team
A conventional team usually has a defined team structure, where the development team members have distinct roles, such as mobile and backend developer.
Meanwhile, an agile team focuses on skills the members can offer instead of roles. The priority is to have sustainable development, although it requires a change in the team structure.
The viewpoint on how the team runs
Conventional team dynamics rely on top-down command and control. There is a clear hierarchy on the team, for example, the product manager is the “leader” who assigns tasks, decides what is best for the team, and controls what the team does.
Meanwhile, agile team dynamics rely on the culture of a self-organizing team. There is no established hierarchy, every team member including the product manager is on the same level.
- The division and assignment of tasks are discussed together within the team. If new tasks emerge later in the development cycle, the developers take initiative to volunteer on doing those tasks.
- The decision-making process requires the whole team to be involved as there is no official “leader” within the team.
- The team has a say in the development process and the product. Feedbacks are always appreciated either they come from stakeholders or developers.
The cooperation to achieve a shared vision
Conventional team dynamics, typical in companies, evaluate individual performance. The team members are referred to as resources that are allocated to complete the job.
On the other hand, agile team dynamics evaluate team performance. Like sports, the team succeeds or fails as a whole team. This indicates that each individual team member is a key player that contributes to the team’s success.
The Experience
Our Dietela team consists of 5 people. We start with a team structure of 2 mobile developers and 3 backend developers, as we divide roles based on our preferences and strengths.
Being a self-organizing team, we ensure work transparency by tracking the whole team’s progress on the Gitlab issue board.
We also conduct regular meetings with the product team and communicate via one LINE group to ask questions, help each other, report on updates, and make decisions together.
We evaluate our team dynamics together, and this is the summary of how we do in our first development cycle:
Our communication and motivation have been great, however, we notice that mobile developers are loaded with tasks.
Fast forward two development cycles, we then realize the urgent need to change the team structure to a 3:2 ratio for mobile and backend. Discussing all pros and cons, we come with a decision that is mutually acceptable for both sides. We adjusted and pulled it off in the transition phase, and here is our team reflection:
Our fast response and helping hand in communication have maintained in its peak performance, and the decision to change the team structure proves to be a good move. We encounter several miscommunication issues however due to the adjustments, but we casually take them as lessons to be learned.
Little do we know, our team has managed to achieve the Product of the Sprint award! For us, the key to agile team dynamics is to embrace every room for improvement to come back as an even better team.
